How-To Geek

Android has a reputation of being more customizable than the iPhone, but that’s become less true over the last few years. For example, iPhones now come with an extra button just for shortcuts—Android could do it so much better, though.

Open-source applications sometimes have a reputation for being slightly buggy or unpolished, and that is sometimes true. However, in many cases—including some of the most important types of apps you'll need—the free and open-source options are leagues ahead of the paid options. Here are four of my favorites.

Every season can bring expected—or unexpected—power outages due to drastic weather, whether from a storm, blizzard, or an accident near an electrical pole.

My wife has shown up back home with various surprises over the years. The last big one is a rescue dog who is sleeping on my feet as I write this. However, the most surprising thing she's ever shown up with is an honest-to-goodness LaserDisc player.

KDE is best known for the Plasma Desktop, but it actually produces a huge number of different applications, including some truly fantastic ones like Kate, Krita, and KDE Connect. Most of the applications are designed to be functional or educational, but some of my recent favorites are entirely different: they're KDE's Games.

Anthropic has introduced a new feature in Claude called Computer Use. When enabled, it allows Claude to take control of your computer, moving the mouse and using screenshots to decide where to click. I took it for a spin to see what it could do.

There are lots of computer monitors available, unless you own a Mac and want one perfectly scaled to Apple’s ideal retina resolution. In that case, there are only a couple of options, including the new BenQ MA270S 5K 27-inch monitor. The question is whether it’s better than Apple’s Studio display.

If you were worried that the Rivian R2 would seriously compromise driving distance due to its smaller size and price, you can relax.

Netflix has released a new app called Playgrounds, essentially serving as an app for kids to play games. While it’s always been possible for parents to set up kids' profiles and monitor their activity and access content on the main Netflix app, this new app throws a couple of useful features in the mix.

It's undeniable that HBO Max has delivered some of the best TV series of all time, with compelling stories that linger long after the credits roll. And since the streamer ended 2025 with more than 130 million subscribers, it's clear that there's still a healthy appetite for the prestige storytelling it delivers.

If you're a Paramount+ subscriber swiping through its library of movies for something good to watch this week, then you're in luck. Every week, I do a bunch of that scrolling for you to try and pull some of the best films from its roster of critical darlings, blockbusters, and hidden gems.

A great movie should either keep you on the edge of your seat, give you all the feels, or make you think. Most importantly, it should entertain you and help you wind down after a long day of work. Netflix's massive range of movies offers plenty of choices for movies capable of ticking one or all of those criteria off, but the problem is finding and choosing the right one.

If you have a homelab, then you’ve likely considered self-hosting every service you use. I’ve thought about that too, but there are certain services that I outright refuse to host at home.

The 53 designation from Mercedes-AMG has traditionally represented the mid-tier model, a balance between daily driving and all-out performance (43 is entry level, while 63 is at the top of the mountain). The 2027 Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Hybrid is perhaps punching a little further above its class, offering a strong balance of power and all-electric range.

Microsoft is working on making changes to Windows 11's design based on customer feedback to improve the user interface. There will be improvements made to the Settings section, which is being “redesigned for clarity”.

I honestly can’t stop myself from watching 20th-century classic movies, and as long as Amazon Prime Video keeps adding so many good ones to their library, my habit will continue. To help you ease through the week, I’ve selected five favorites from the streamer’s April lineup.

Disposable compressed air dusters are an essential part of the desktop toolkit, as they provide an easy, efficient, and effortless way to clean your computer and everything around it. However, they come with one major downside—they are a one-and-done deal. Once you run out of gas, you need to buy a new can.

With the start of April, Netflix is welcoming entertaining movies that will be available to stream for the foreseeable future. One of the new movies I'm ready to watch is Thrash, a new shark movie where the Jaws-like creatures wreak havoc on a coastal town during a hurricane. It might only be spring, but I'll watch this type of survival thriller any time of the year.

There are quite a few microcontroller options on the market, from Arduino and Raspberry Pi to Espressif’s ESP32 platform. Personally, I'm not too fussed about Arduino or Raspberry Pi—here’s why my next microcontroller will be an ESP32.

If you have a modern phone with a recent OLED screen, there's a decent chance that it comes with an AOD or Always-On Display feature. With this active, your screen will stay on and show information even when it's locked. Your first instinct might be to turn this off, or never turn it on because you think it's just going to tank your phone's battery.